Mixed Martial Arts
by crayonsteaseme
Summary: Satoshi has a crush on the judo club captain, but leaves all the talking to Chika.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you going to ask her or what?" Chika asked monotone as he twirled his pencil between his fingers. He leaned onto the comfort of his palm as he waited for Satoshi's response.

"I don't know," Satoshi said as hastily munched his bento.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he scolded, "It's disgusting."

"Sorry Chika, I'm just nervous." Satoshi made a quick glance across the cafeteria. There she was. Satomi Miyamoto was seated across the room, surrounded by her other classmates. It was primarily boys, which made Satoshi feel a squeeze on his chest.

"Those boys don't mean anything to her," Chika stated matter-of-factly. "She's captain of the judo club. They just want to climb up the social ladder without working hard." He glanced at Satomi from the corner of his eye. She had wavy black hair pulled back into a ponytail and sparkling sapphire eyes. She was pretty, but he would never admit it.

"You don't know that for sure," Satoshi said. "Miyamoto-chan is very popular…I know that Jigoro likes her."

"That's only because he thinks since he has the same name as the judo creator, he's destined to take over the judo club."

"Let's just go to class," Satoshi stood up and left his lunch tray on the table. He made one last glance at her smiling face before leaving the room.

Satoshi spent the class going crazy. How was he going to ask the girl he's had a crush on to go to his birthday party?

"Are you going to ask her or not?" Chika asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

Satoshi bit his lip and watched the clock. The bell had rung only seconds ago. Satomi would leave to go to judo club in less than a minute. He shook his head. "It was a stupid idea."

"I'm going to ask her then."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. I gave you a week to ask her, now I'll ask her." Without another word, Chika walked off towards Satomi. Satoshi sat back down defeated and watched as his cousin approached the girl. He felt a familiar squeeze on his chest, but it was tighter and made him feel more uncomfortable than ever.

Satomi smiled at Chika as he approached her casually. "Hello Haninozuka-san."

"Hello Miyamoto-san," Chika responded in a bored tone. "Satoshi's birthday is this Saturday. His parents are hosting a party at his estate."

"Oh, I didn't know. I would have given him a present!" Satomi cried out. "I hope he isn't mad at me!"

"You can give it to him on Saturday," Chika stated.

"But I'm not…are you inviting me to his birthday party?"

Chika shrugged his shoulders and walked away saying, "It starts at 10am, don't be late."


	2. Chapter 2

Satomi stood uncomfortably next to the table of refreshments. She was dressed in a simple blue sundress with a neatly tied black bow at the waist. She held onto her neatly wrapped present for Satoshi. She didn't know him very well, but she hoped he would like her present.

"Miyamoto-san," Chika said. "You came."

"Hello Haninozuka-san," Satomi greeted a slight bow. "Thank you for inviting me."

Chika nodded in acknowledgement, "What are you doing off on the side?"

"I don't seem to know anyone here besides you and Morinozuka-san."

"That is because most of our classmates are people from the karate and kendo club, not the judo club."

Satomi nodded her head in agreement. "I never realized how little time I spent outside of the judo club…oh! I forgot! This is a present for Morinozuka-san, where should I leave it?"

"Why don't you just give it to him?"

"He hasn't even started to open his presents."

"He'll make an exception; I'm sure." Chika grabbed one of Satomi's hands and pulled her through the groups of chattering teenagers.

"Hey Yasuchika-san!" one of the boys called out. "Where are you going with Satomi-san?"

"Satomi-san? Who invited her?" The room became aware of the young girl's presence. A murmur filled the room. Some were affectionate, while others were filled with disdain.

Chika approached Satoshi, who was greeting all the parents that accompanied their children. "Satoshi, Miyamoto-san has a present for you."

Satoshi turned around to see Satomi. His heart made a leap when his grey eyes made contact with her blue eyes. They seemed to shine more with the accompaniment of her blue dress. Then his heart sunk a bit lower than its normal position in his chest when he noticed the interlocked hands of his cousin and the girl he liked.

Chika noticed Satoshi's shifted gaze and immediately released the hand. "Are you going to stand there being rude or are you going to greet her?"

Satoshi shook out of his gaze. He broke into a smile and scratched the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry, Miyamoto-chan! Welcome to my birthday party! Thank you so much for coming!"

"Thank you for inviting me to come, Morinozuka-san," Satomi replied with red cheeks. She didn't know Satoshi well enough for him to address her so informally.

"There's no need to be so formal! You can call me Satoshi-kun!" Satoshi beamed at her. His eyes drifted to the present in her hands. "Is that for me?"

Satomi nodded, "I don't know you that well, so I hope you like it." She handed the boy the wrapped box.

Satoshi immediately ripped through the wrapping paper and found a velvet box. He opened it and found a mini shinai sword hanging off a silver chain. His jaw dropped, "This is amazing! It looks so realistic!"

"I asked my father if he knew anything about kendo," Satomi explained. "He recently found a full armor set and bamboo shinai from the 18th century. My grandmother helped me fashion a miniature replica last night."

The Miyamoto family was a wealthy family whose money originated from finding gold and silver overseas. However over time the silver reserve had diminished, but the family became skilled goldsmiths, silversmiths, and jewelers. Satomi's father married into the Miyamoto family. He came from a family of archaeologists, historians, and museum directors.

"It's so cool!" Satoshi chirped. "I can't believe you only made it last night! It looks like it would have taken months to make! Thank you, Mi-chan!"

Satomi blushed. Satoshi was very friendly, despite it only being their first time having a real conversation. "I'm very happy that you like it."

"What's there not to like? I mean…there's no one as – " Satoshi started.

"Satoshi, go cut the cake," Chika interrupted.

"Oh yeah! Almost forgot there was a party!" Satoshi said. "I'm sorry, please excuse me!" He bowed his head before scampering off.

Takashi noticed the change in his younger brother's behavior when the younger girl made her appearance. He became friendlier than usual and more nervous. Satoshi seemed to desperately want the girl's approval. Takashi smiled when he realized that this was his younger brother's first crush.

Mitsukuni noticed the change in his younger brother's behavior as well. Yasuchika seemed to display more emotion around her. The young girl definitely had an influence over him and it was a positive one. Mitsukuni beamed and was determined to join Yasuchika and his first crush together.


	3. Chapter 3

Satoshi sat in his assigned seat next to Chika with his face planted on the desk. Every so often, he would release an exaggerated sigh of misery to give Chika a sign of life.

As Satoshi sighed for the fiftieth time in that short morning, Chika shouted, "What's wrong with you? Get over it!"

Satoshi produced a stick out of nowhere and smacked Chika on the head with it. "No shouting in the classroom! The classroom is a sacred place where people learn! Don't disturb it!"

"Then why are you shouting?"

"Because I have to teach you a lesson!"

"STOP HITTING ME! IT HURTS!"

"Miyamoto-san!" a group of judo club members greeted. They immediately got to their feet and bowed simultaneously.

Satomi entered classroom, 3A, with her head ducked down. She shuffled to her seat without a word to her club members, striking worry into the hearts of the members. Instinctively, they surrounded Satomi's desk.

"Are you okay?" Michi asked gently.

"Don't bother her, she probably didn't get enough sleep," whispered Ichiro nervously.

"What happened, Satomi-san?" Jigoro questioned. "It was that Morinozuka-san, wasn't it? I warned you not to go to his birthday party."

"No, I'm fine," Satomi responded softly to the accusation. "It was a lovely party, I wish you all could have gone."

"Then why won't you lift your head to face us?"

Slowly and steadily, Satomi raised her head. Through her thick black hair, a big purple bruise was shown covering all of her right cheek.

"I'm going to kill him!" Jigoro cried out along with cheers of agreement from the other judo club members.

He turned towards Satoshi and began to lunge at him. Only to be flipped backward onto the floor and immobilized by Satomi's grip around his throat.

"Judo means gentle way." Satomi spoke clearly with authority. "One must be calm and clearheaded before deciding to approach an enemy. If you're going to trot into a judo match like this, you won't know when to strike your opponent to subdue them. Until you cool your temper, you will not be allowed to spar for the week."

"You're just going to let that kendo kid attack you and get away with it!"

"Do you want to be benched for a month?"

Jigoro kept quiet.

Satomi released his throat and sat back in her seat.

"Miyamoto-san, we all worry because we care," Ichiro said. "Can't you please just tell us what happened?"

"It's really not a big deal though," Satomi insisted before she began her story.

_As the entire group of middle school students gathered around Satoshi, everyone began to sing happy birthday. Satomi felt a bit uncomfortable in the crowd of karate and kendo club members. It would've been nice to have at least one judo club member with her. However, she couldn't help but smile at the excited look on Satoshi's face. It was as though he had never seen such a wonderful gathering before._

_Everyone told her he was the nicest boy in all of Ouran Academy. He certainly was very nice and friendly, so much that it made her blush._

"_Make a wish, Satoshi," his mother reminded gently._

_The room was hushed as he blew out all the candles of his birthday cake, except a strange sound of running and jumping in the background. _

_Then the sound of the unsheathing of a sword erupted through the air, everyone was intrigued. Before Satomi knew it, she was being swept up into a circle around Yasuchika and Mitsukuni, the two Haninozuka brothers. _

_The two were sparring. Yasuchika had a hachiwara, ready to strike, while Mitsukuni had nothing in his hands. Each time Yasuchika slashed his sword at his older brother, Mitsukuni had bounced off. The older boy seemed to be whimpering about cake or something of the sort. The spar carried on with Yasuchika slashing his hachiwara and occasionally kicking and Mitsukuni dodging every blow all the while cuddling a pink bunny plushie._

_As the two brothers fought, the crowd observing moved to accommodate the amount of space necessary. It was difficult to keep up._

_The last thing Satomi remembered was an upset Satoshi, jumping upward from his seat with his birthday cake with a hardwood bokken sword crying out, "CHIKA, YOU PROMISED – "_

"So…Morinozuka-san struck you with a bokken sword?" Michi repeated.

"Yes," Satomi answered.

"We must avenge our captain!" the three boys cried out.

"You will do no such thing!" she shouted. "It was an accident! As my top competitors, you will stand down or I will have no choice, but to remove you from the next match."

Her judo boys groaned and mumbled about how unfair she was being before slinking back to their assigned seats.

Satomi shook her head with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

No matter what subject, Satoshi couldn't focus. The image of him striking Satomi's fair cheek with his bokken sword wouldn't stop replaying in his head. What kind of gentleman does that to a young lady? The worst part was that she wasn't even mad at him.

In fact, when three judo club boys wanted to attack him, she forbade them and threatened to bench them for the upcoming match. He didn't deserve her kindness.

The lunch bell rang and the sensei said, "That will be all for history today. We will carry on tomorrow." Everyone rose to their feet and bowed before the sensei before he left the room.

Satomi found herself alone as she put away her textbooks. Apparently her club members are refusing to speak to her until she avenged her honor. It made her laugh how sweet her friends could be. She reached into her bag for her bento box, but as she tugged it loose, her water bottle was launched across the room.

Before he realized it, Satoshi was on his feet and running to catch the water bottle. Only to be intercepted by Chika. Chika approached Satomi with her water bottle.

"Thank you, Haninozuka-san," Satomi said gratefully as she took the bottle from Chika's hands.

"You should forgive Satoshi," Chika said bluntly. He didn't even bother to ease the conversation to the discussion.

"There's nothing to forgive because I'm not mad. It was just an accident."

"The dumb lump isn't going to get over it until you tell him."

"Satoshi-san isn't dumb."

A pang occurred in Satoshi's chest when he heard her say his name for the first time. He rushed to Satomi and fell down to his hands and knees. His forehead was pressed against the back of his hands.

"Please forgive me, Mi-chan!" Satoshi begged.

Satomi blushed heavily. Satoshi was a bit overdramatic. She didn't know what to do.

She carefully knelt down in front of Satoshi. She let out a small nervous laugh. "Satoshi-san, do you know what happened right after the bokken sword hit me?"

"I bruised your beautiful face!"

Satomi felt her face turn into a ripe tomato before she shook her head, reminding herself of the task at hand.

"No. A very sweet boy with spiky black hair broke up the fight between two brothers before taking me into his home. There he apologized profusely and gave him an icepack to reduce the swelling." Satomi smiled when she noticed Satoshi poke his head up. "This wonderful boy kept apologizing before deciding to tell jokes and funny stories to cheer the girl up until her father came to pick her up."

Satoshi started to sit up again.

"Satoshi-san, you were such a gentleman. You did everything to make me feel better." Satomi smiled and joked, "Everything except kiss the boo-boo."

Immediately, Satoshi pressed his lips on Satomi's bruised cheek. To which Satomi promptly fainted from.


	5. Chapter 5

It was strange because a few days after Satoshi's kiss, the bruise on Satomi's face had disappeared. Girls liked to tease Satomi by saying the bruise had healed from the Sato-squared love. Meanwhile, the judo boys were furious and swore to never abandon their captain over a petty apology. They stood on guard surrounding the judo club captain as if it were their job 24/7.

"What do you mean this week's meeting is cancelled?" Jigoro cried out.

"I have to study for the English exam," Satomi responded calmly as she read her English grammar text book.

"I can tutor you!" he volunteered.

"Your exam score was worse than mine," she reminded. "It's better if I take some time off for judo anyways. My grandparents want me to get ready for my debut. Rumor has it, muscles aren't appealing for a girl in a dress."

"I would want my wife to be as strong and intelligent as you!"

"You're distracting me, Jigoro. Why don't you go eat your lunch in the cafeteria?"

"Never! I need to make sure Morinozuka-san leaves you alone." Jigoro sat there with his arms crossed until his stomach growled.

"I'll be fine without you. Anyways, when I do start meetings again, I don't want a malnourished member."

Jigoro nodded and exited the classroom.

Satomi let out a sigh of relief. After a week or so, most of the boys stopped guarding her. But Jigoro was still going strong and wouldn't let her be. She couldn't imagine how she could live down the embarrassment of going to the bathroom, only to have five boys blocking the door and inspecting every girl before allowing them to enter.

She stretched her arms and leaned back in her seat as she reread the definition of an adjective. Even with the book in front of her and a terrifying exam approaching, all she could think about was Satoshi's kiss.

Sure it was just on the cheek, but Satomi has never been kissed before by a boy that wasn't her father. His lips were soft and gentle. Maybe he's kissed other girls before.

"Argh!" Satomi shook her head rapidly. "I need to focus! If I don't pass this English test, I probably won't pass the English portion of the high school entrance exams! Focus!"

"Ouran's an escalator school, why do you need to pass an entrance exam?" Chika asked when he entered the classroom.

"I'm thinking about applying to Lobelia," Satomi answered looking cautiously behind Chika.

"He's not here, practicing for a kendo match," Chika said as he crossed his arms. "Are you going to an all girls school just because a kiss on the cheek?"

"Of course not!"

"Good because it would just mean that you're as stupid as you look."

"Yasuchika!" The distant shout of fury was met a couple seconds with Satoshi rushing in. He struck Chika with the handle of his shinai. "How dare you be rude to pretty girls!"

"What's that supposed to mean? Am I allowed to be rude to ugly girls?"

Satoshi smacked Chika again with the handle. "There's no such thing as an ugly girl!"

Chika frowned as he sat down on a desk with his hand pressed against his head. "Shouldn't you be practicing for your match today?"

Satomi stared at Satoshi and realized he was wearing his bogu. It was obvious that he ran out in the middle of a sparring match.

"Augh, good morning, Mi-chan!" Satoshi greeted bowing deeply and putting away his shinai.

"Good morning, Satoshi-san," Satomi replied with a small smile. Satoshi did look really cute in his bogu.

"It's afternoon, you idiots!" Chika responded only to be struck again on the head.

"Uhhh, isn't hitting Haninozuka-san so many times bad?" Satomi asked with a sweat drop on her forehead.

"I only hit him when he's being rude," Satoshi explained. "If he doesn't become more polite, he won't be fit to run the Haninozuka dojo in the future!

"I should just stop hanging out around you two, I always get hit," Chika grumbled.

"Well, you're always rude!" Satoshi responded frankly.

Chika looked ready to make another remark when a stifled giggle interrupted. The cousins turned and saw Satomi clutching her mouth with both hands, giggling. She was laughing so much she had tears in her eyes.

"You two are really too cute!" she managed to utter in between her giggles as she wiped her eyes.

Satoshi could've sworn a blush crept along Chika's cheeks, which was weird. Chika hated to be called cute. It reminded him too much of Mitsukuni.

"Heh, you think I look cute in my bogu?" Satoshi asked with one hand on his hip and the other on the back of where his neck should be.

Satomi stared at Satoshi in his big black bogu. Normally people look big and imposing with the armor on. It reminded her of No-Face from Spirited Away. But when you look through the mask and see Satoshi's bright and warm smile, the terrifying part of the attire disintegrates.

"Yes," Satomi confirmed. Before she knew it, Satoshi tackled her in a hug. Her face erupted in red.

"Please come to my match afterschool! You'll get to see me in my cute uniform!"

"There's nothing cute about a bogu!"

SMACK.

''_I guess not studying for one day couldn't hurt,'_ Satomi thought as she observed the kendo and karate captains fight.


	6. Chapter 6

"Wow, Satoshi-san is so cool!" Satomi commented as he jumped backward from his opponent's and spun around to smack their shinai with his.

"If you think Satoshi is cool now, you should forget about applying to Lobelia," Chika said. "He's going to Ouran High."

"That's great for him," Satomi said. "I'm sure he's going to be very happy."

"Why are you leaving one of the most prestigious academies in Japan to go to an all girls school?" Chika questioned. "Are you one of those freaks that love the Zuka Club?"

"What's that?" Satomi asked.

"That's what Lobelia is known for! How can someone want to go to a school and not know a thing about it?"

Just as Chika turned his head, a shuriken went zipping by missing his head by less than a centimeter. The two middle schoolers looked back into the direction it was thrown from and saw Satoshi was still sparring.

But his grey eyes were focused on Chika's face. His lips mouth, "Don't be rude!"

"You could've killed me!" Chika shouted back.

Satomi cupped her hand over her face and laughed happily. Satoshi was definitely amazing. Something about Chika and Satoshi's playful banter made her happy.

* * *

"Yummy, ice cream!" Satoshi chirped as he shoveled spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth. "Thank you, nii-san!"

Takashi nodded his head with a smile.

"Sato-chan did really well in his kendo match~" Mitsukuni cheered as dug into his massive ice cream sundae.

Chika looked away with disgust as he inched farther away from his older brother. He still had a sour face on from his defeat against his brother, which had followed Satoshi's victory in the kendo match.

The brothers were very different. While Takashi was quiet and patient, Satoshi was outgoing and impulsive. While Mitsukuni was warm and bubbly, Chika was cold and harsh.

"Mi-chan, do you like judo? ~" Mitsukuni asked.

"Yes, senpai," Satomi answered quietly as

"Is that how you met Chika-chan?"

"No, Haninozuka-san is only in karate club."

"Actually, Chika was in judo club in first year of middle school!" Satoshi said. "It was before you transferred to Ouran."

"I see, why did you leave the judo club?" Satomi asked Chika.

"It was too simple," Chika replied simply as he stood up. "I'm going home before I start smelling like these sickening sweets." He attempted to brush the scent off himself before he left the ice cream shop.

"Too simple?" Satomi repeated.

"Yeah, Chika is really smart," Satoshi said. "Once he learns something once, he remembers it forever. After a year of judo, he learned everything the captain could teach."

"Wow, that's amazing," Satomi said. She looked down thoughtfully with her spoon still in her mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

As Satomi entered classroom 3A, she found it out that no one from the judo club greeted her as per usual. In fact, every step she took, they seemed to scoot their desks to face away from her.

It was so childish. But Satomi couldn't help but to step forward and backward over and over again because they would scoot back and forth.

With a small laugh, Satomi approached the group that tried to scoot to the back of the room. "What's wrong, you guys?"

Then the members went to their feet with their arms crossed in front of them. Jigoro was in the front of the group with his hands clenched tightly.

"What's wrong with us? What's wrong with _you_?" he shouted.

This wasn't the judo team she remembered yesterday. "What are you talking about?"

"You cancelled the judo meeting because you said you had to study for the English exam, but Michi saw you laughing with Haninozuka! At a kendo match no less!" Jigoro seemed to be upset by this. "You're not even going to try to deny it?"

"Why would I need to deny it?" Satomi asked.

"Ever since that stupid birthday party, you haven't been the same Satomi we know!"

"I'm still the same!"

"The Satomi we know would never cancel a practice, lie to us, and fraternize with the enemy!"

"What enemy? We're a middle school club! If anything, our enemy would be other schools' judo clubs!"

"You don't understand." Jigoro's aura darkened and his fist was clenched even tighter. "I challenge you to a judo match!" The judo members gasped. They were upset with Satomi, but they would never challenge her in such a way. "If I win, I will take over as judo captain and you will leave the club."

"And if I win?"

"You can do as you please with whoever you want even Haninozuka and Morinozuka."

A shadow cast over Satomi's eyes and she became serious. "I accept then."

"Our match will be next Saturday at 10am."

"Fine." She withdrew the keys to the practice room from her backpack and handed them to Ichiro.

"Satomi," Ichiro called out softly. But Satomi just walked out of the classroom to cool down.

* * *

Between breaks, Satomi didn't glance at the judo club or at Satoshi and Chika. In fact, as soon as the bell rang, she rushed out into the library.

Ichiro still felt uneasy as he opened the practice room that afternoon. The room didn't seem the same without the captain and her bright smile.

"Jigoro, may I speak with you now?" Ichiro asked.

"Of course." The two stood outside the judo room, lingering in the hallways as the team rushed inside.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"I know you've wanted to be judo captain since elementary school, but this isn't the way to get it. Don't you still care for Satomi-san?"

"Of course, I care about Satomi-san…I like her. I like her a lot."

"Then why are you trying to take away her title?"

"Satomi-san has never shown an interest in anything aside from her studies and her judo team. Then Haninozuka and Morinozuka show up and she's cancelling practices and running off with them. It's frustrating."

"Then you should talk to her."

"No, it won't help it. There's a reason why they are drawn to each other. Do you know what they all have in common?"

"They're all in 3A?"

"No."

"They're all extremely wealthy?"

"No."

"Don't tell me the three of them of related!"

"Of course not! All three of them are captains! Haninozuka is captain of the karate club. Morinozuka is captain of the kendo club. And Satomi is captain of the judo club."

"So?"

"That's what she wants in a boyfriend!" Jigoro shouted. "She doesn't want to date a lackey in her club! She wants a strong leader, a fighter! If I can beat her and become captain, I won't just be another face in the crowd. I'll be Inoue Jigoro, captain of the judo club."

"And what if you lose?"

"I'm not going to." Jigoro walked into the judo room, leaving Ichiro in the hallway shaking his head in disappointment.


	8. Chapter 8

Satoshi groaned as he rested his chin on his desk. He glanced over at Chika, who didn't make any motion to indicate he was going to do anything.

Satoshi stretched his arms out and groaned as loud as he could and collapsed on his desk dramatically.

"Can you try to be less obnoxious?" Chika remarked.

Satoshi smacked Chika with a large stick, "When a friend is in distress, you should be consoling them!"

"Fine then! Why are you being such a whiny brat?!" Chika "consoled."

"Mi-chan hasn't talked me since Jigoro challenged her leadership," Satoshi sighed. "It's all my fault!"

Chika continued to leaf through his math textbook looking for an equation.

"Aren't you going to say anything?!"

"Well, it is your fault," Chika said flinching, ready to be struck with the stick.

When he wasn't hit, he opened one eye to see that Satoshi was slumped over his desk, crying out, "I knew it!" over and over again.

Chika was not accustomed to seeing Satoshi in distress. He was generally a very happy person. He didn't like that some girl can turn Satoshi into an inconsolable mess. Well maybe he is consolable, but he didn't know how to do that.

* * *

Satomi had spent the past couple of days reading about effective judo moves in the library. Normally she wouldn't be reading about new moves when she competes with Jigoro. She knew that he wasn't strong at strategizing as he uses all his energy in the first three moves. However, this match was different. Jigoro seemed extremely upset. When he's upset, he was extremely determined.

From their friendship, she knew that when Jigoro was determined, he will succeed. If she wanted to maintain her position, she would have to work hard.

But did judo books have to be so dull?

Satomi first became interested in judo through reading judo manga. She started mimicking the moves and became good enough to join the judo club. Maybe if she read manga, she'll be inspired. She pulled out a manga book and started to read.

"Do you really think you'll learn judo moves through reading manga?" Chika asked amused.

Satomi jumped out of her chair in embarrassment.

"Hi Haninozuka-san," she said bowing to hide her blushing face.

"You have an important judo match coming up, good to see you're being studious," Chika said rolling his eyes.

"I have been studying really hard!" Satomi cried out and was met by shushes from the people around her.

"That better be the reason why you haven't been talking to Satoshi."

Satomi looked at Chika with a look of concern. "Is Satoshi mad at me?"

Chika stared at Satomi. Is she serious? Is she really that oblivious? He has never ever seen Satoshi get mad at anyone. If there was anyone that he was going to be mad at, it would be Jigoro. He looked at Satomi.

Her face looked worried and she seemed to be trying to plan a way to accommodate both her judo training and her friendship with Satoshi.

The two of them were hopeless.

"He's not mad."

"I'm sure he is," Satomi said. "Every time he tries to talk to me, I rush off to study. I haven't even gotten the chance to tell him about the judo match."

"He knows about the judo match, the entire school knows about the judo match," Chika said. "He thinks it's his fault that you had a fight with your club."

"But it's not," Satomi said. "It's something that has been written in the books for a while." She rested her chin on her hand with a dazed look in her eyes. "I joined the judo club as a second year when I transferred to Ouran. I wasn't very good. The best member was Jigoro. When he saw me struggling to keep up, he stayed with me until the wee hours of the night helping me until I understood.

"During those nights, Jigoro would talk about his plans for the future. It all started with him being judo captain in third year. I don't know what was going on in the previous captain's mind when he selected me as the captain. I don't deserve the position and tried to give it to Jigoro, but he acted maturely. He encouraged me and cheered me on. It's about time this match came."

"If this is all 'meant to be,' then why are you studying to win the match?" Chika remarked. "If you don't deserve the position, then just lose the match."

"I don't want to leave the club," Satomi said. "I don't have many friends. The judo club is the only place with people I feel comfortable with. They are my only friends. It's selfish and unfair of me to deny Jigoro the place he deserves, but I don't want to be without them."

"Are you stupid or something?" Chika stated. Instinctively, he flinched a bit, preparing himself to be struck by Satoshi. But Satoshi was too depressed to bother disciplining him, increasing Chika's irritation with Satomi.

Satomi looked at him. Her eyes were surprised by the annoyance she found in Chika's eyes.

"You have friends outside of the judo club," he said. "Whether you like it or not, Satoshi is your friend. What kind of a friend won't let you hang out with who you want? So just hurry up and lose the fight. Then you can hang out with him as much as you want without those idiots picking fights with you."

Satomi looked away and stared at her hands. She could walk away from this. From feeling undeserving. From running a club full of boys that monopolized her time. From the boys who threw a fit whenever she spent time with others. But she would also walk away from the closest friends she's had for years. From the family that took care of her when she was sick and demanded vengeance when she was wronged.

"I can't," she said simply. "It's hard to explain to an outsider. But you don't walk away from family. You fight and argue, but never leave for good. I want to do my best to _really _earn my spot in this family."

Chika was quiet. He was frustrated with how stubborn she was. He just wanted her to stop being in the judo club and for Satoshi to stop grumbling. But things weren't going to go his way.

"Haninozuka-san," Satomi said. Chika grunted a response. "Would you be willing to train me until the day of the match?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Chika shouted to met with the immediate response of demands for silence and shushes.

"When we went out for ice cream, Satoshi said that you were so skilled in judo that you left after one year because you learned all the moves!" Satomi recalled. "If you were to train me, then I might be able to beat Jigoro."

"No," Chika said.

"Please!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"How would I benefit?"

Satomi paused. She wasn't close with Chika and here she was, asking a huge favor. The only reason why they were united was because of Satoshi. Her eyes brightened.

"If I win, I can spend time with whoever I want," Satomi stated. "I'll be able to spend more time with you and Satoshi."

Chika's ears perked up when he heard this. He took a breath and turned away to begin to leave the library. "Meet me in the karate club room at 9pm."

"Does this mean you're agreeing?"

"Don't even dare being a second late."


	9. Chapter 9

Satoshi sighed as he stretched. It was a long hard practice at karate club. He had been hoping to ride home with Chika, only to be rejected. The past few days, Chika disappeared right after practice. It was weird because Chika normally lingered about for a few hours. It seemed like everyone was fleeing from him.

"Maybe it's 'cause I smell," Satoshi thought out loud as he sniffed his gii. "Oh gross! I definitely need to wash this!" After inspecting the room for cleanliness, Satoshi shuffled out of the karate club room and headed towards the locker room.

As he passed the judo room, he couldn't help, but overhear a loud crash, which was followed by, "UGH-OOMPH!"

It was something between a squeal, a grunt, and a yelp.

Whatever it was, it didn't sound good.

Naturally, Satoshi entered the room with the utmost caution.

He kicked down the door and pulled out his bokken, ready to attack. As his eyes took in the scene, he dropped his bokken.

On the matted floor of the judo room, a girl with sapphire eyes and black hair was pinned down and straddled by his cousin.

Chika jumped up at the sound of the broken door. He shuffled over a few feet and picked his glasses up from a nearby table. Placing the spectacles on his face, he immediately felt a gut-wrenching feeling.

Satoshi didn't know what to do. He wanted to run away from the scene. At the same time, he wanted to hit Chika with every ounce of strength he had left. Stuck in his state, he stood in place with a blank stare.

Satomi sat up from her once pinned position and pulled up the sleeve of her gii that slipped off during her struggle to release herself from Chika's hold. She cracked her neck and stretched her arms before looking up and realizing the awkward scene that had taken place.

"Satoshi-san!" she cried out immediately getting up to her feet to bow.

Hearing her voice stirred Satoshi from his state of indecision. He turned his attention to Satomi.

"What are you doing here so late?" she asked.

Chika studied Satoshi carefully. His clenched fists remained at his sides as he looked up at Satomi. Although he sounded friendly and warm as he always did, his grey eyes looked distressed.

"I was just cleaning up the karate club room and heading to the locker room to change," Satoshi answered. "Then I heard a noise and thought someone was being attacked, so I thought I should help."

"That's so nice of you!" Satomi commented with admiring smile.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Satoshi smiled, but his hands were still clenched at his side.

There was an awkward stillness in the air.

"You might be wondering why I'm here so late with Haninozuka-san," Satomi said breaking the silence.

"I was wondering why you were underneath Chika." While Satomi blushed from Satoshi's word choice, Chika focused on only one word. When he said Chika's name, there was a subtle hint of bitterness that made the middle school boy squirm, just a bit. Satoshi turned to Chika. "I thought you said you were tired and decided to go home _without me._"

His knuckles were white from his tight grip. Chika opened his mouth, but Satomi spoke.

"I'm sorry that Haninozuka-san has been leaving karate club early, it's my fault," Satomi said bowing her head in slight shame.

Satoshi felt his heart tighten. Does Mi-chan like Chika? Did they start dating secretly? Is that why he's been leaving club immediately afterwards? To meet her without him knowing?

He cringed in anticipation of those words as Satomi picked up her sentence.

"I forced him to train me in judo."

That wasn't exactly what he was expecting to hear.

"What?" Satoshi said releasing his clenched fists.

"I'm really sorry!" Satomi cried out. "I know the karate club really needs him, but I just need him to train me for one week! I was having trouble studying new moves alone and you even said that Haninozuka-san is extremely skilled in judo, so I pleaded him to help me."

When she stopped talking, she stared at his expression. He had a blank expression on his face. Maybe he was mad at her for stealing his best friend away without notice. She closed her eyes and cringed ready for Satoshi to finally get mad.

Satoshi launched himself forward and tackled the girl to the ground.

In an embrace.

"You're so cute! I'll help you too!" Satoshi said. Chika noted that his smile and brightness returned to his features and decided to test the waters.

"You'd just get in the way," Chika grumbled. "She wants to win, not cuddle with a weirdo."

Immediately, Satoshi struck Chika on the head with his bokken sword. Satomi couldn't help, but notice that Chika smiled despite being hit with a wooden sword.

"I might not know judo, but that means I'll be a perfect target for Mi-chan to practice the moves she's learning!" Satoshi explained. "Since you're the expert, you can tell her how to adjust her movements to be more precise."

Chika crossed his arms, "So you're going to be replacing the judo dummy?" He motioned to the mannequin sitting in the corner of the room. "Not like there's a difference between you two anyways - no brain."

SMACK.

Satoshi was back to normal for sure.


End file.
